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Help! My Bank Just Got Bought Out!
The Park Avenue Group Banking Blog
Does this sound familiar? If you aren’t experiencing this dilemma right this moment, chances are you have experienced this in the past or will sometime in the near future. In the world of banking and finance, buy-outs and mergers are an all too common occurrence. The uncertainty and questions are endless and often induce many sleepless nights and moments of heartburn and anxiety. Will you still have a job? If so, will it be the same job? Will your coworkers still have their jobs? Will you have to relocate? Who will your boss be? Will you like the new organization? What changes will be made?
If you find yourself in this situation, what can you do to minimize your stress and make it through that buy-out or merger as smoothly as possible?
- Don’t Panic - The very first rule of thumb with any situation… Keep your head when everyone else around you is losing theirs. It will be noticed!
- Gather information – Before you begin to stress out, find out the truth about the situation. Rumors tend to abound in these situations and reacting to and spreading each one helps no one and in fact could contribute to your being one of the first wave of cuts.
- Be indispensable in your department – Don’t be modest. If you are a key player who is instrumental in keeping your department running smoothly or if you are a major producer, let it show! When duplicate departments are combined, decisions are made of whom to keep and whom to let go and “Deadwood” gets culled. This is not the time to mentally “check out” from work.
- Be flexible to change – With any merger or buy out, change IS going to happen. Resistance to change will only make this time period more stressful for yourself and everyone else. Willingness to embrace change can put you at the front of the line for better opportunities. Now may be the time to round out your career with new skills.
- Update your resume – Be proactive. Take it out, dust it off, update it with your latest information, then call your favorite recruiter and/or email it to them. Taking a cue from the Boy Scouts and getting yourself prepared can mentally reduce your stress by putting you back in control of at least one thing - your own choices.
- Reach out to your network – You attend meetings, functions, seminars and industry events, you meet people everywhere. Now is the time to make use of it. Spread the word! Let people know you are on the market. LinkedIn can be a valuable tool to let people know what you are up to.
- Don’t be last on the block to act – Procrastination, false hope, reliance on a severance package, even misplaced loyalty can cause you to not act as soon as you know you won’t be kept on. Waiting can cause even further damage when all the available positions at other companies in the community are snapped up by your fellow employees who acted faster. Keeping your options open gives you choices and having choices lends itself to better decisions.
Mergers and acquisitions are by their very nature stressful events, but by following the above steps you can help minimize the negative impact on yourself and hopefully come out of the experience with a better opportunity, either within the newly reorganized institution or in a new one.
For further reading on this subject, please visit www.parkavegrp.com/blog/type/banking.html
